NBCUniversal Says Olympic Games Remain “The Great Aggregator Of Viewership”, With Paris Ad Revenue Ahead Of Tokyo Pace

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled it 2023 line-up and theme as it maintains its third edition against the backdrop of the escalating Israel-Gaza Conflict. (scroll down for full list)

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer In the wake of massive summer tours from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, Live Nation has announced yet another record-breaking quarter in Q3 of 2023, with revenue up 32% to $8.2 billion and up 36% to $16.9 billion so far this year.

This year’s Tokyo Film Festival closes this evening with the world premiere of Godzilla Minus One, the latest edition in Toho’s monster franchise, directed by filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki. 

Davide Abbatescianni After two pandemic years and a successful 2022 edition back in full swing, Lucca Comics & Games — Europe’s biggest geek meet, second in size globally only to Tokyo’s Comiket — is set to unspool again in the picturesque Tuscan town from Nov. 1-5.

before his untimely death on Saturday.The “Friends” star, who was found unresponsive at his Los Angeles home, made his final major public appearance on June 9 at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, where he watched the semifinals with a group of friends. Photos from the star-studded tournament capture the “Fools Rush In” star, 54, laughing and clapping along as he watched the players. In 2002, the “17 Again” star told The New York Times that he had loved the sport since the age of 4 and would dedicate almost 10 hours a day to improving his own game.

“Ticket sales have gone up 27%, and we’re only at the midway point, so I’m quite happy,” Ando Hiroyasu, Tokyo Film Festival (TIFF) Chairman, told Deadline as he shuttled between engagements at this year’s busy and buzzy comeback edition. 

Veteran Hong Kong actor Tony Leung passed through the Tokyo Film Festival this afternoon, where he led a masterclass session following a screening of 2046, his sixth collaboration with filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai. 

There’s been much celebratory talk here at the Tokyo Film Festival about a new dawn of internationally-minded Japanese artists led by directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Makoto Shinkai, and Ryusuke Hamaguchi. 

Godzilla Minus One, the latest edition in Toho’s monster franchise and the closing film at this year’s Tokyo Film Festival, has locked a deal for distribution in the UK and Ireland. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Ichiyama Shozo assumed control of the program of the Tokyo International Film Festival after a long programming career that included Tokyo and the slightly more indie Tokyo Filmex events. He is also a regular producing partner of Chinese art-house darling Jai Zhangke. These influences have shaped his approach to this year’s Tokyo IFF lineup, he told Variety.

“The pandemic has finally passed, and cinema has returned to normal, but the way people think has changed dramatically,” Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou concluded when quizzed by Deadline about cinema post-Covid 19 during a brief chat at the Tokyo Film Festival (TIFF). 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief TIFFCOM, the film market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival, is set to be more international and more diverse in its first full comeback year after the COVID hiatus. It should also be more pleasant and convenient, having re-located to a more modern venue that is close to the film festival. “Bringing the in-person market back after four years, my priority was to make sure that TIFFCOM could happen during the festival, not some other time,” said Shiina Yasushi, who has headed the market for ten years.

BreAnna Bell “NFL on CBS” scored strong viewership numbers with its Week 7 telecast, CBS says. As the Kansas City Chiefs took home another win this week, taking down the Los Angeles Chargers 17-31, the National Game delivered a historic high as CBS’ most-watched Week 7 game window in 10 Years with nearly 24.4 million viewers and was the most-watched program of the week on any network. It also marks the most-watched week 7 regional game since 1998, when NFL programming originally returned to CBS, with almost 16 million viewers thanks in part due to the Bills-Patriots game, which took place at 1 p.m.

Will Tizard Contributor As the hulks of multi-million-dollar stadiums around the world attest in Haruna Honcoop’s investigative doc “Olympic Halftime,” the greatest global games have also built a reputation for massive waste and deception. “It’s always the same story,” says the director about her subject, seen this week in its world premiere screening at the Ji.hlava Intl.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer For three decades, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios has been offering live terror experiences in Southern California and Florida — primarily via a series of mazes where the undead chase crowds with chain saws and scary movies come to life. Over decades, licensed characters like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees have haunted the studio backlot. But on a recent Wednesday in October, the annual attraction was hosed down not with fake blood but a slew of corporate owner NBCUniversal’s intellectual property.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “This Time,” a romantic drama reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise” trilogy, but not officially based on it, has been picked up for global distribution by fast-moving sales company EST N8. The story follows two high school sweethearts who unexpectedly reunite in Los Angeles 23 years after they were separated in Jakarta and must decide if they’re still in love. The film, directed by Sebastien Tobler, stars Ken Kirby (“Good Trouble,” “Dynasty”), Leila Perry (“Filthy Animals”) and was produced by Theresa Chiu. It had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in May. The rights deal was brokered by Tenten Wei and Sophie Shi of EST N8.

writes in her memoir that he broke up with her via text message.According to the , Spears writes in The Woman in Me that Timberlake initiated the split with a text. Remember that this breakup happened in 2002, meaning that he would have had to compose his breakup message using T9—so this could have taken hours to type out, depending on Timberlake's level of eloquence.After the three-year relationship ended, while Timberlake was boosting his own image and insinuating that Spears had cheated on him with “Cry Me a River,” Spears wrote that she was, “comatose in Louisiana, and he was happily running around Hollywood.”Per the same New York Times report, Spears writes that she kissed choreographer Wade Robson during her relationship with Timberlake, but “suggests that her behavior was related to rumors of Timberlake’s unfaithfulness.” Sounds…messy.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Most contests in the 2024 Summer Olympics set for Paris, France, won’t start until next summer. NBC has been running one race for months.

Kevin Spacey is in the headlines for multiple reasons right now.

“Here’s the funny thing, I was talking to a director a few months ago, and I mentioned that I was I’ve been reading and thinking about King Lear, says Sir Patrick Stewart of his possible future career plans “And he said, Yes, yes, of course. But, you know, Patrick, you’re a little too old. Okay. Well, that was something of a shock.”